POV: Dante
The sound of my hand hitting the wall echoed through my office like thunder. Pain shot through my fingers, but it felt better than the empty ache in my chest. Blood dripped from my torn skin onto the expensive carpet below.
"Damn it," I whispered, looking at the hole I'd punched in the wall. Father would be angry if he saw the damage. The future Alpha wasn't meant to lose control like this.
But I couldn't help it. Every day felt the same - endless meetings, boring paperwork, and everyone expecting me to be great. I had everything a wolf could want. Power, money, respect. So why did I feel like I was dying inside?
My wolf paced restlessly in my mind, just as upset as I was. He kept searching for something, but neither of us knew what we were looking for. It was driving us both crazy.
A knock on my door made me quickly grab a tissue to wipe the blood from my hand. "Come in."
"Dante, your father wants to see you," my helper said, peeking through the doorway. Her eyes went wide when she saw the hole in the wall, but she was smart enough not to ask questions.
"Tell him I'll be there in five minutes," I replied, already dreading whatever Father wanted to talk. Probably more planning for tomorrow's Luna ceremony. The event I was supposed to be excited about.
The ceremony where I was supposed to choose Vivienne as my mate.
My stomach turned sour at the thought. Vivienne was beautiful and came from a good home. She'd make a perfect Luna according to everyone else. But when I looked at her, I felt... nothing. No spark, no link, no desire to spend my life with her.
My brothers felt the same way, though we'd never talked about it out loud. Ryder got angry whenever someone mentioned the ceremony, and Phoenix had been acting stranger than normal. But we were triplets - we had to share everything, including a Luna.
I walked to my window and looked down at the patio where pack members were training. Warriors practiced fighting moves while others ran loops around the track. Everyone looked busy and focused, like they had a real purpose.
That's when I saw her.
A girl with beautiful red hair was on her hands and knees, scrubbing the stone steps leading to the main door. She worked quietly, trying to stay unseen while people walked past her. Most didn't even notice she was there.
But I noticed.
Something inside my chest pulled tight, like an invisible rope joining us. My wolf suddenly stopped moving and focused all his attention on the girl below. He wanted to get closer to her, to protect her from everyone who ignored her.
I pressed my hand against the window glass, trying to get a better look at her face. She was small and delicate, with pale skin that looked soft as silk. There was something graceful about the way she moved, even while doing such simple work.
Who was she? I'd lived in this pack house my whole life, but I'd never really paid attention to the staff before. They were just background noise, unseen people who kept things running smoothly.
But this girl wasn't invisible to me. She glowed like a light in the darkness, drawing my attention like nothing ever had before.
"Sir?" My assistant's voice seemed to come from far away. "Your father is waiting."
I blinked and stepped back from the window. "Right. Sorry."
But as I headed for the door, I couldn't stop thinking about the red-haired girl. Something about her called to the deepest part of my soul, the part that had been empty and looking for so long.
Father's office was down the hall, but I found myself taking a detour toward the main stairs. I told myself I just wanted to get some fresh air, but really I wanted another look at the girl.
When I reached the top of the stairs, she was still there. This time I could see her face clearly. She was even more beautiful than I'd thought, with delicate features and sad green eyes. There was something familiar about her, like I'd been thinking about her my whole life.
She looked up suddenly, as if she could feel me watching her. Our eyes met across the distance, and the world stopped spinning.
Lightning struck through my body, white-hot and electric. My wolf roared with joy, finally finding what he'd been looking for. The empty feeling in my chest filled with warmth and light.
Mate. The word rang through my mind like a prayer.
The girl's eyes went wide with shock. She could feel it too - the link that bound our souls together. Her cleaning rag fell from her hands as she stared at me in amazement.
But something was wrong. This shouldn't be happening. I wasn't meant to find my mate until tomorrow's ceremony. And it definitely wasn't meant to be a servant girl.
Before I could move or speak, two more smells hit me like physical blows. Pine trees and midnight air, familiar smells that belonged to my brothers. They were coming this way, moving fast.
The girl scrambled to her feet and ran toward the servants' rooms, disappearing around a corner. I started to follow her, my feet moving without permission from my brain.
"Dante!" Ryder's voice boomed from behind me. "Did you feel that?"
I turned to see both my brothers running toward me, their faces pale with shock. Phoenix's eyes were glowing with silver light, the way they did when his magic was working.
"Tell me you felt it too," Phoenix whispered, his voice shaking. "Tell me I'm not going crazy."
My heart stopped beating. If they felt it too, that meant...
"The girl with red hair," Ryder said, his voice rough with emotion. "She's our mate."
The words hung in the air between us like a bomb waiting to burst. All three of us, mated to the same girl. It was impossible, forbidden, unheard of in our pack's past.
"This can't be happening," I breathed, my mind running. "Tomorrow's ceremony... Vivienne... Father will never accept this."
Phoenix grabbed my arm, his silver eyes burning with passion. "It doesn't matter what anyone accepts. The Moon Goddess has chosen."
A door slammed somewhere in the servants' rooms, followed by the sound of running footsteps. Our mate was scared and hidden from us. The thought made my chest ache with a pain worse than any physical hurt.
"We have to find her," Ryder growled, his protective reflexes already kicking in. "We have to explain what's happening."
But before any of us could move, Father's voice rumbled through the hallway like thunder.
"Boys! Where are you? We need to discuss tomorrow's ceremony quickly!"
The three of us looked at each other, fear and excitement warring in our hearts. Everything we'd known about our future had just changed in an instant. The girl hiding in the servants' rooms wasn't just some random omega.
She was our fate.
And tomorrow, we were meant to choose someone else.